Predatory and discriminatory practice by Liberty Group South Africa: An experience of a customer of 23 years

A funeral plan is designed to cover immediate funeral expenses in the aftermath of the loss of a loved one. In doing so, it aims to relieve families of sudden high costs of a burial/cremation and affiliated expenses, thereby preventing debt and providing peace of mind for the bereaved. In this review, I am to share my experience to the HelloPeter audience as a cautionary tale, so that an informed decision is taken when selecting an insurance provider for one’s funeral cover.

In February 2003, I took a funeral policy for myself and my immediate family members. I did it through my bank, First National Bank, and the provider was Liberty Group South Africa (referred herein as ‘Liberty’). Since then, I regularly (at least annually) receive a correspondence from Liberty to inform me of my new increased premiums, whilst they proudly exclaim that my benefits will remain the same (as if that’s a good thing!).

A fortnight ago, I received a notification from Liberty, regarding my increased premiums, effective from July 2026. They stated that if the new premium is unaffordable for me, I can opt to decrease my benefits to reduce the premium. Knowing that the cost of funerals and living expenses increase over time rather than decrease, it is illogical to want less cover to cover something that is now more expensive. Therefore, I responded to their e-mail, asking them what would my premium be if I changed my current benefit amount (I.e., R30,000) to R40,000. A week later, they responded in a blunt manner, stating that due to my spouse’s and my age being above 60 years old, they will not increase our benefit amount.

Their response was a rude awakening and a cold realization that this company evidently does not value it’s long-standing customers. I completely understand that it is standard industry practice to use age as a risk factor. For instance, onboarding a new elderly client, who may only pay a few months of premiums before passing away, would be at the detriment to the insurance provider. However, I am a client of 23 years, and I was not a pensioner during inception of the policy. In those two decades, I have not claimed a single time. In actual fact, Liberty has to date collected premiums from me that exceed my benefit amount! I was fully expecting them to increase the benefit value, by the relatively measly sum of R10,000, and to accordingly increase the premium, as well as possibly impose a waiting period for that increased amount. Instead, their response was tantamount to saying: “We will increase your premiums as and when we please, until the day you die, but your benefit will be the same as that which was set years ago”.

Liberty clearly lives in an utopian world, one in which inflation does not exist. They boldly stated in their e-mail to me, from two weeks ago, that they are increasing my premium, from July 2026, due to their “expectation of future changes in claim rates”. That begs the question, what about the expectation of increased funeral costs brought about by inflation? Between 2003 (I.e., when I first took the policy) and 2026 (I.e., today), inflation in South Africa increased by approximately 191.6%. This means that the price of goods and services are about three times higher today than it was 23 years ago. This company’s headquarters appears to be located under a rock, for them to genuinely believe that a funeral (and associated costs) in 2003 would cost the same as it does today. In a recent article by Everest Funerals, they indicated that funeral costs in South Africa increases 4-6% annually, even outpacing general inflation. Yet, Liberty expects a client’s choice of benefit amount from decades ago to still be suitable and relevant to their needs today, and in years/decades from now.

This interaction with Liberty got me researching whether other insurance providers also increase their premiums to cover inflation, whilst not affording the customer the opportunity to increase their benefit to off-set inflation, or as a result of the client’s improved financial circumstances. Here are some of my findings: (1) OUTsurance allows their customers to change the benefit amount as often as they need to, whilst imposing a waiting period. (2) Old Mutual Protect allows clients to choose if and how their cover and premium increase. (3) Discovery funeral plans feature annual benefit increases, not just annual premium increases. (4) Sanlam offers cover that increases annually along with the premium. (5) Metropolitan offers “value protection” to keep up with the rising cost of living.

From these examples, it is clear that many/most other providers include annual benefit increase options to keep up with inflation, which corresponds with premium increases. In my research, I have yet to find an other provider that explicitly discriminates against existing client’s based on their age in the way that Liberty does. Instead, all these more moral and less predatory providers allow one to update coverage amounts and to adjust one’s policies to better suit their current financial circumstances, family structure, and to take into account inflation. I was not a pensioner when I took out this policy, but now that I am, Liberty has no qualms to treat me unfairly and are exploiting the elderly, who are amongst the most vulnerable of Society.

To conclude, I would like to urge readers of this post that when taking a funeral cover, please carefully select the provider that you choose. You may be young now, but you do not want to fall into the trap that I did where, decades from now, you realize that your insurance provider truly does not appreciate the elderly clientele that kept them in business throughout the decades. It’s truly a sad thing to be a pensioner, making peace with one’s inevitable mortality, and for the company that you loyally and religiously paid to for decades to not even allow you the opportunity to increase your benefits so that you have a dignified send off. Truly shameful, ************, and appalling business practice!